Coq au vin

Ingredients
50g Butter
6 tbsp Olive oil
18 Shallots, peeled and left whole
176g button mushrooms, halved
50g Flour
black pepper
1.8kg-2.25kg chicken pieces
6 rashers smoked back Bacon, cut into strips
4 cloves Garlic, crushed
300ml Red wine
300ml chicken stock
1 bunch of Parsley, finely chopped
Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Melt the butter and 3 tbsp olive oil in a large casserole dish. Add the shallots and fry for 5 minutes, until lightly browned.

2. Add the halved mushrooms. Fry for 5 more minutes. Using a slotted spoon transfer the onions and mushroom halves to drain on kitchen paper.

3. Sprinkle the flour on a plate. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Coat the chicken pieces thoroughly in the seasoned flour.

4. Add the remaining olive oil to the casserole dish. Heat through, add the chicken and fry until the chicken is browned on all sides, around 10-15 minutes. Add the bacon and garlic and fry for 1 minute until fragrant.

5. Pour in the wine and stock. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and add the parsley (reserving 2 tbsp for garnish). Transfer to the oven and cook for 1 hour, until the chicken is tender. Half-way through the cooking time add the onions and mushroom halves.

6. Serve warm from the oven, garnishing with reserved parsley just before serving. cook for an hour or so...

Chateaubriand with mustard Béarnaise and shoe string chips

Ingredients
oil, for frying
1 x 500-600g Chateaubriand steaks
Watercress, to serve


For the béarnaise sauce
1 small Shallots, finely chopped
8 Black peppercorns, lightly crushed
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
150ml White wine
2 tbsp chopped tarragon,
3 large egg yolks, beaten
200g melted Butter, preferably clarified, cooled
1 tsp wholegrain Mustard


For the chips
500g Maris Piper Potatoes, cut into matchsticks
oil, for deep frying
Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4 and a deep-fat fryer.

2. Pour a little oil in a griddle pan and bring it up to smoking temperature. Put the steak whole in the pan and allow it to sizzle. Turn and sear on the other side. Holding the steak with tongs, brown the edges all the way around. Put it in the oven to finish cooking - this will take about 20 minutes for medium-rare.

3. For the béarnaise sauce: put the shallot, black peppercorns, white wine vinegar, white wine and a little of the tarragon in a small pan and reduce until about a quarter of the volume remains. Pick out the peppercorns.

4. Put the egg yolks in a bowl with the vinegar reduction. Whisk until the sauce begins to emulsify. Add the hot melted butter a drop at a time, whisking between each addition. The sauce will start to thicken. If it splits, add a drop of hot water. Once all the butter is added, stir in the mustards, the rest of the chopped tarragon and season.

5. For the chips: fry the potato chips in a deep-fat fryer until golden. Drain well and keep in a warm oven to maintain the crispness until ready to use.

6. Cut in the steak in half and arrange on 2 plates with a dollop of béarnaise and a handful of watercress.

Chicken in marsala wine sauce

Ingredients
6 chicken breast fillets
2 tbsp Flour
black pepper
2 tbsp Olive oil
5 Shallots, sliced
300ml chicken stock
200ml Marsala
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
pinch of dried Oregano,
2 Bay leaves
6 Carrots, peeled and chopped
150g mangetout
200g Broccoli
Method 1. Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthways. Mix together flour, salt and freshly ground pepper. Coat the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour.

2. In a casserole dish heat the olive oil. Fry the chicken until browned on all sides, around 10 minutes.

3. Add the shallots and fry for 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, Marsala wine, vinegar, oregano and bay leaves. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat so that the sauce is simmering. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

4. Meanwhile, steam the carrot, mangetout and broccoli until tender.

5. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a warm serving plate. Increase the heat under the casserole dish and cook the sauce briskly until reduced and thickened.

6. Serve the chicken with the steamed vegetables and the Marsala sauce.

bread and butter pudding

bread and butter pudding

old fashoined bread pudding.
this is a lovely spicy cross between a cake and a pudding perfect for using up left over bread!

8oz bread white/brown, cut off crusts
1/2 pint of milk
2oz butter
3oz soft brown sugar if you dont have brown use white
2 level teaspoons of mixed spice
1 egg beaten
6oz mixed dried fruit
grated rind of orange (i use a teaspoon of marmalade)
freshly ground nutmeg

pre heat oven gas mark 4,350 degrees F (180degrees C)

A 2- 21/2 pint baking dish buttered

break up bread place in a bowlpour in milk leave for 30 mins.
now add the melted butter,the sugar,mixed spice and beaten egg. using a fork beat mixture well so no lumps then stir in mixed fruit and orange rind. next spread the mixture in the prepared dish and sprinkle over some freshly grated nutmeg, bake for about 1 1/4 hrs. and enjoy

VEGAN TACO WRAPS

Perfect Taco Wraps
Makes 6-8 tacos

Pepita filling:
1C fresh tomato, chopped
1/2C pumpkin seeds (pepitas), soaked for an hour
1/4C yellow bell pepper diced
1/4C sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for an hour
1/2t chile powder or cayenne pepper
1/4 - 1/2 C soak water from tomatoes
Small clove garlic, minced
2T shallot
1T cumin (I forgot to add this and it still tasted delicious!)
1t fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Romaine lettuce leaves for “shells”

Add all ingredients except the pepitas and bell pepper to a food processor and blend into a smooth sauce, adding soak water to achieve thick, saucy consistency. Add pepitas and bell pepper and process to coarse, meaty texture.

Jerked Chicken4 portions of Chicken Make a marinade:4 tsp allspice6 garlic cloves, crushed2 tbsp fresh ginger2 tbsp dark brown sugar1 tsp cinnamon1 scotch bonnet pepper, chopped1/4 tsp black pepper1/2 tsp salt1/3 cup olive oil1/3 cup onions, finely chopped1/2 cup wine vinegar2 tbsp lime juice Mix all the ingredients. Marinade chicken for 2 hours or more.Cook under the grill basting frequently.

Recipes With Rosemary
Rosemary is one of my favourite herbs – its clean, spiky scent pervading my kitchen takes me to the South of France on a warm summer’s day. It is the hardiest plant in my herb garden, surviving our driest summers and putting out new growth as soon as the winter rains begin. You can pick from it all year round and it has useful medicinal properties too.I love Roast Lamb with generous amounts of rosemary and garlic tucked underneath as it cooks or else I take Nigella Lawson’s advice and mince the garlic and rosemary to a paste with some olive oil and tuck it into small incisions in the meat before cooking. After that the meat just cooks itself (as long as you remember to switch on the oven for it!) and you have a marvellous Sunday lunch for very little effort. A dash of red wine added to the juices from the roasting dish and warmed through gives you a ‘jus’ that any five star restaurant would be proud to own – do spoon off the excess fat first though. For a totally low effort lunch serve the roast lamb with a generous green salad and boiled new potatoes, or expend the effort you’ve saved with the meat on producing loads of crispy roast potatoes, baked butternut squash and tender green peas.The following pasta sauce recipe came from experimenting with a recipe from Marcella Hazan’s Marcella’s Kitchen. To her tomato and rosemary pasta sauce I added some tuna to create a nutritious and delicious meal for my kids – the balsamic vinegar gives a mellow, rounded note to the sauce and is not in the least overpowering as I thought it might be.Penne with Tuna, Tomato, Rosemary and Balsamic VinegarFor 450g/1lb pasta8 tablespoons olive oil3 or 4 cloves garlic2 sprigs rosemary450g/1lb tinned tomatoes, drained and chopped2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar1 tin of tuna drainedPut the olive oil, thinly sliced garlic and rosemary sprigs in a frying pan over a medium heat. When the garlic starts sizzling add the tomatoes, with salt and pepper and cook for 10-12 minutes.When the pasta is just cooked – really al dente – drain and put back in the pan and toss with the sauce over the heat for 1 minute. Add the tuna, stir, then off the heat stir in the balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.There is a wonderful recipe for a Rosemary Cake in Nigella Lawson’s book ‘Feast’. She allocates it to her Funeral Feast section. as rosemary has always been the herb of rememberance, but this cake is great for any occasion when a light, not too sweet, plain sponge is required. It has apple in it too and the combination of that and the rosemary, gives a moist but aromatic cake. A long sprig of rosemary adorns the top of the cake and as it cooks releases more aromatic oils into the cake. Try it.To make use of rosemary’s health boosting properties try a cup of rosemary herbal tea. One sprig with a cup of boiling water poured over it and left to stand for five to ten minutes, makes a revitalising and stress-relieving tea. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and aids circulation, helps with stress, anxiety and depression and improves memory and concentration. It also is a useful source of easily absorbed calcium, far more effective than taking pills.So plant a rosemary bush in your garden or in a pot on a balcony for your own free, energy-boosting calcium supplement!Copyright 2006 Kit Heathcock